Once Upon a Rejection Letter

Once Upon a Rejection Letter

I once wrote a children's book called The Wonder Box several years ago while in college.  My professor thought I should try and publish it, and so began my many failed attempts at publishing it (rejection letters as they call it in the publishing world).  Yet, as fate would have it this rejected book ended up in the hands of Mike Wolfe.  Wolfe liked it so much that he thought we should do a book together.  So here is another tribute to failures that will eventually lead somewhere.  Do what you believe in, and somewhere along the way someone will believe in you.  Yes Mike Wolfe, thank you for believing in me.  

Can't say I ever thought I'd have an advantage growing up in my dad's eclectic (and yes, a bit disorganized) antique store La Belle Epoque in Galena, IL, where Mike Wolfe has frequented since I was a child (or lil' picker as he calls me).  But, I've come to realize going to auctions and being stuck in the back of a rusty van filled with antiques my entire life has actually been one of the best blessings I could ask for.  I love the hunt for finding something under a junk heap, and yeah Mike has the same fascination.  So when he decided that he wanted to do a book about kids who also love "picking", why wouldn't he choose the third grade teacher who grew up in an antique store?  Oh yeah, and who also loves collecting old bikes?  That's what I thought.  Good choice Mike.

So fast forward to the release of our book Kid Pickers, which just so happened to be in New York City; where I end up eating at fancy restaurants, of which I can't make sense of 90% of the menu items (I couldn't find "cheeseburger" anywhere!), hanging out with Billy Leroy from the show Baggage Battles (yeah, he's Awesome with a capital "A"), following Mike to Fox News where I ate a doughnut, and hanging out at the headquarters for the History Channel.  The History Channel should be your favorite network, because they are now flying me out to Nashville to judge the Pick and Tell contest, and more importantly sending my class free stuff in the mail.  

When our book was pitched to publishers, we got several rejections.  But eventually Kid Pickers ended up in the hands of an awesome group of people who believed in us.  Without the greatest publishing company of all time Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan), this entire journey would not have been possible.  So being able to meet up with Jean, Liz, and my now New York bestie Molly "McAwesome" (yeah, we got some good pictures with the Abraham Lincoln statue, that's when I knew we were really going to be friends), was probably the best part of my trip.  Why?  Because YOU believed in our book.

THE GREATEST SPEECH OF ALL TIME

Here is Mike Wolfe giving the greatest speech of all time in a cab in New York City.

THE BEST GIFT

When I arrived back to my classroom on Friday morning, I got the best gift of all, a note from my students that said "We Love You Ms. Sprengelmeyer" and another note from Dylan that said "I missed you".  This stuff really means a lot to me, and that's why I hang stuff like this on my fridge.  To remind me that I am one very lucky teacher, with one very loving group of third graders.

SLEEPING ON FLOORS IN AIRPORTS

MY RETURN TRIP TO EAST DUBUQUE

After six hours of layovers at the airport in New York, I arrived at the Chicago O'Hare airport only to find that all the flights were delayed due to severe weather.  I also came to find that they ran out of cots to sleep on, and that I would be sleeping on the floor.  I decided that in situations like these you simply have to make the best of them, and when you do so, great things can happen.  I ended up meeting some really wonderful people, and probably kept a few of them awake around me from my squeal laugh (sorry about that, but they woke us up at 4a.m. anyways).  I couldn't help but think what kind of adventure I would have had if all of my third graders were with me.  We could have made blanket forts and told ghost stories.  

WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

1.  You're never too old to have an adventure on the Chicago O'Hare airport floor.

2.  Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan) make dreams happen.

3.  The History Channel is the best television network of all time because they care about teachers.

4.  It's really not a bad thing to grow up in an antique store.

5.  My students are the greatest students of all time.